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Anthony Joshua gets a sparring session he will never forget at Halewood

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Jaguar Land Rover

Global

This week saw the Halewood Plant received a surprise visit from Unified World Heavyweight Champion boxer Anthony Joshua.

The boxing
superstar, who currently holds the WBO, WBA and IBF titles, proved he could
pull off a knockout performance outside the ring as he swapped his gloves for
gearboxes to meet with the men and women building the new Range Rover Evoque.

Keen to
get his hands dirty, AJ wasted no time in getting stuck in with jobs on the
shop floor and helped colleagues put the finishing touches to the compact Range
Rover as they were driven off the production line.

As well
as taking a spin in the new Evoque, he even managed to get some training under
his belt ahead of his big fight against Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden
in June.

“I had
a brilliant time building cars with the Halewood team and was totally blown
away by the knowledge and passion of everyone there, who did a great job at
showing me the ropes.

“I
don’t view myself as a Land Rover ambassador, there’s much more to it than
that. It’s not a job for me because these are the cars I choose to drive. It’s
a British brand and I’m a British athlete so I am incredibly proud to be
associated with this company. They were also the first company to take a chance
on me when I was starting out as a young boxer and I’ll never forget that.

“That’s
why it was great to be in Halewood to meet with the people behind the new
Evoque. I’m rooting for everyone there, and hope the new car will be as
successful as the first model."

Asked
about whether he would be tempted to throw in the towel and step into
engineering, the boxing legend, said: “Apparently I am a natural at building
cars, although I don’t think I will be giving up my day job anytime soon, I
will stick to driving them."

During
his visit AJ took time to chat to colleagues as well as posing for selfies and
pictures.

Tom
Evans said: “I was gobsmacked when AJ walked into the factory. It’s not every
day you come to work and get to meet one of your heroes.

“I
couldn’t wait to go home and tell my family what happened. The whole plant has
been working really hard on the new car so it was a nice boost – everyone was
buzzing."

Halewood
Plant Operations Director, Stuart Lord, said: “The new Evoque is not just
hugely important for our plant but also the whole Liverpool city region. The
plant has benefited from investment to support its production, which in turn
has helped to boost the local economy and secure jobs.

“AJ’s
visit served as a timely reminder to everyone here of just how far we have come
and I hope the experience has motivated all our team here to continue to be at
the top of their game, and to make sure this is another knockout Halewood
success story just as the first cars start hitting the road."